Share Article

Macular degeneration, a chronic and progressive disease, affects an estimated 12 million Americans and this number is expected to rise to 22 million. 10% currently have the wet form of the disease. Treatment of the wet disease consists of uncomfortable and potentially dangerous anti-VEGF injections into the eye every 1 to 3 months for the life of the patient to preserve vision. VEGF drugs attack the abnormal blood vessels that cause the wet disease but, over time cause retinal degeneration.

xR, a leader in Epigenetic Health; the rapidly evolving evidence-based science that improves the activity and expression of your genetics, is making strides in the field of eye care to prevent and help treat wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Early results with dry disease indicate vision improvements, giving new hope to patients with this condition.

A patient with grossly distorted vision from wet macular degeneration received anti-VEGF injections every nine weeks for one year. The patient added xR Epigenetic Health to her overall health regimen and is now 20/20, without needing a single injection in the last six months. This result is one her retina doctor says happens “almost never.”

xR integrates genetic based therapy, bioidentical hormones, and nutrition to help the body naturally repair itself at the cellular level. “Epigenetic therapy has anti-VEGF properties because it turns off the genes that make VEGF,” said Brian Bakke PhD and chief science officer at xR. “Furthermore, epigenetic therapy has powerful anti-inflammatory properties which are known to help eyes with wet macular degeneration along with the ability to positively influence the activity of many genes that can help heal disease.”

“The improvement in the patient’s retinal photographs and vision is a paradigm shift in what is possible," said George Rozakis, M.D., Chairman at xR. The eye is the window to the body” said Dr. Sedlacek, xR’s director of Optometry. “What we are seeing in the eye is happening throught the body which is why Epigenetic Health improves overall health and wellness. It’s what happens when you help all the cells in the body.”

Through future clinical studies xR is looking to determine if Epigenetic Health can decrease the need for anti-VEGF injections. If xR reduces the need for VEGF injections to once or twice a year, or even completely, it would be a monumental paradigm shift for Ophthalmology, Optometry and the role of the eye doctor in the pursuit of health and wellness.

Recently a study conducted by the National Eye Institute and published in the Journal of Nature Genetics discovered 34 more genes that are involved with macular degeneration. For xR, these 34 genes are new targets for epigenetic therapy.

The xR Program begins with four simple tests to study a patient’s genetics, biochemistry, hormones, and inflammatory drivers. Two of the tests can be done at home and the remainder involves a typical blood draw. The results of these tests are combined with a review of a patients personal history and gives xR health providers the information needed to prescribe a personalized solution that includes targeted nutrition, nutraceuticals and hormones to allow one’s body’s reparative mechanisms to get back to work.